Don't Let Go
by plumerias
Summary: The battlefield breaks even the most seasoned shinobi.
1. Prologue

AN: First fanfic! To be perfectly honest, this fic will have a lot of inconsistencies because of Naruto's vague timeline (Kishimoto, why?), but I tried to be as accurate as possible, so hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless!

* * *

Kirimoto Eri was not a genius. Highly skilled, yes, but not a prodigy by any means. Which explained why she lay sprawled on the tiny training grounds that the orphanage provided for its ninja-in-training. But really, they said it was a "training ground" when in actuality it was really just a few square yards of grass plus a small lake (puddle) on which the children could practice their kata. Eri could feel herself bristling at the thought of it. The clan kids, heck, even the civilian students received better accommodations. They had miles of barren grounds that were perfect for training with huge lakes while she—

Anyhow, she was exhausted. She had been training since noon, and it was currently past sunset. She wasn't. Able. To. Move. It was highly unlikely that anyone would come and get her too, because hardly any of the orphans used the training grounds, deeming it a lost cause.

Eri sighed. She wasn't a genius, but the Academy thought she was, and she was scheduled to take her graduation exam tomorrow. A eight year old taking the exam wasn't too unusual nowadays. Wartime made it crucial for more and more shinobi to join the ranks.

Eri sighed again. The lack of movement made her thoughts wander when she probably should have been trying to get herself in the orphanage in preparation for the next day. How could she have been so reckless? If she didn't make it the next day, then her chance would have been lost. She would be stuck in the orphanage for who knows how long. She had nothing to lose.

This renewed her determination. She screwed her eyes shut and reached out for a little chakra, just enough to complete this task. She silently cheered when she succeeded. She let the chakra escape her small fingers as a thin thread and attached it to a large boulder a few feet away, pulling herself up. She then carefully withdrew the chakra thread. Her limbs still felt like jelly, but she managed to limp the 10 yards into the orphanage back door.

* * *

The door opened slowly with a loud creak. Twenty seven pairs of eyes narrowed in its direction, focused on the small girl who stepped out. A black strip of fabric with a metal plate hung by her side. The ten year olds in the room groaned.

"Seriously?" Eri heard a blue-haired girl hiss. The former tugged at her own long, black hair self-consciously.

"She's two years younger than us, but..."

"Did you hear?"

"She's joining a pre-existing genin team."

"What a jerk!"

"She looks so stuck up!"  
"She doesn't deserve it."

Eri's mouth drew into a straight line. She knew that the other Academy students resented her, both because of her early graduation and her often aloof expressions. It didn't hurt any less to be reminded of it, though.

Yamada, an Academy teacher, poked his head out the door. "Oh, and Eri-chan! You'll be meeting up with your team early, since you won't be with anyone from this year's graduating class. You can go meet up with them right now, in fact! Training Ground Forty Seven, he said."

Glad for an excuse to hightail it out of there, Eri bobbed her head politely, deep blue eyes flashing with something indecipherable. Unnerved, the teacher nodded back.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Eri was standing motionless in the middle of the aforementioned training ground. Another ten minutes passed, she was sitting on the ground. She was inspecting her nails apathetically five minutes after that when she felt a sudden gust of wind, interrupting the otherwise sticky, hot day. She looked up to see a tall figure blur into sight, two smaller figures standing back to back with the former. Eri's eyebrows furrowed. Was this her new genin team?

"We're your new genin team," the taller figure, shown to be a handsome young man dressed in a green jonin jacket announced. Another gust of wind appeared out of absolutely nowhere, rustling his sandy hair attractively.

In addition to having a flair for dramatics, he could read minds as well. Okay, then.

"I'm Yukihara Yuki," the man continued. "Which explains why our team, despite being Team 14 officially, will be called Team Yuki from now on. Call me Yuki Sensei! Nice to meet you!"

"'Kay, Yuki-Yuki," one of the smaller figures, a boy who looked to be around Eri's own age with tousled black hair and similarly colored eyes snickered. The last figure, a taller boy with grey hair and brown eyes who was maybe a year or two older coughed, trying and failing to hide his amusement.

Yuki rolled his eyes. "Gosh, you guys are even annoying when we're welcoming a new teammate!" His words were harsh, but his voice was teasing. "Can you please introduce yourselves?"

The taller boy looked up with an small smile still pasted on his face and said, "Hey, I'm Ikeda Takashi. Good luck with this team. You'll need it."

Yuki huffed amusedly. "At least you know how much pain you cause."

The younger boy composed himself with no small amount of effort and straightened himself. "I'm Shisui. Uchiha Shisui. It's great that we finally have our last team member!"

Eri cocked her head in confusion. "I'm Kirimoto Eri. Call me Eri. And what do you mean by that? Aren't I a replacement member?"

Shisui looked scandalized. "Even if we had a fourth member before you, don't call yourself a replacement. And we actually didn't have a full team before, so ha."

When it looked as if Shisui wouldn't be elaborating, Takashi explained, "We graduated two years ago, and there was an odd number of graduates, so we were officially labelled as Yuki Sensei's apprentices instead of students. It had its benefits, but it also meant that we weren't able to take the Chunin Exams."

"Two years ago?" Eri felt faint. They looked to be around her own age! "How old are you guys?"

"Shisui's eight, same as you, and Takashi is a year older," Yuki said proudly.

"And…" Eri hesitated. "Isn't there supposed to be some sort of, um, test for me to actually join this team?"

Yuki shrugged. "Well, wartime protocol doesn't exactly make time for that kind of thing. Being Rookie of the Year proves your skill, and as long as you're not on the WOLPS, you'll be fine, and you're not. On the WOLPS, that is."

"WOLPS?" Eri parroted.

"Seriously? You don't know it? Shisui and Takashi didn't know what it was at first, too..."

"So… what is it?" Eri beckoned for Yuki to continue.

"Watchout List for Psychotic Shinobi. What in the world does the Academy teach these days? Enough about WOLPS, though. Who wants lunch? My treat!"

Standing in the cloud of dust that the other two members of their team left behind in their mad dash to town, Eri snorted, bemused. "What was the point of meeting in the training ground if we weren't even going to, you know, train?"Yuki stared at her as if her words had been in some foreign language. "Good point," he said distantly.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Not beta'd. I'm not sure if y'all this pacing is too slow or too fast, but we are slowly starting to get into the story. Enjoy!**

* * *

"You know… this wasn't really what I had in mind when you said we had a mission today, Yuki Sensei."

"Ah, this is your first mission, isn't it?" Yuki smiled at Eri indulgently. "Fresh genin are always so naive…"

Eri huffed out a sigh, then turned back around to glance at the site before her. She hadn't known D-Rank missions entailed menial _chores_. She definitely hadn't trained for such long hours to be employed to wash dishes for nobles.

A harried-looking servant rushed over to the team of genin. "Oh, thank goodness you're here! Madam Shijimi has just finished up with her lunch, but seeing as we're rather shorthanded today," she gestured hurriedly at the barren kitchen, "you'll have to be washing the dishes. Keep alert, we may need you for other tasks soon!" And she was gone, a cloud of dust being the only indication that a human, a civilian at that, had been standing in that spot just moments prior.

Washing dishes. _Case in point_. Eri wasn't sure if she should be annoyed at the chore they had been given, or impressed at the speed with which the woman had run out of the kitchen. While nowhere near the speed of the average ninja, it was still rather quick.

"Ah, it's been a while since we've done a D-Rank!" Shisui was already rolling up his sleeves beside Eri. "Can't say I've missed it!"

The girl shifted, still faintly awkward around her new teammates despite having gotten to know them pretty well the other day over lunch.

Takashi grimaced. He swept his gray hair from his eyes and looked up with a determined expression. "Let's get going."

Eri donned a bemused expression, one that seemed to be making very frequent appearances in the short time she had been a genin. "We're only doing the dishes. Why are you guys so serious?"

Yuki chuckled darkly from behind her. "Fufufu… Don't speak too soon, you'll regret it."

* * *

"Oh. My. God," Eri panted heavily, lying spread-eagle on the cold marble floor of the kitchen. The room itself was spotless, every single dish that had come their way sparkling and in their respective cabinets. The genin themselves weren't quite so lucky.

She glared up at Yuki, who had not a single scratch himself, and was actually humming a cheerful tune, all while brushing some sort of imaginary dust off of his green flak jacket. "Why weren't you helping!" All politeness was thrown out the window when she asked this of her teacher desperately. She would normally be mortified to have spoken to an unfamiliar elder in this manner, but her disheveled state trumped all reservations. She was half-dead, she should be allowed some yelling!

"I was positive that you guys could handle it," Yuki said haughtily. "And I wasn't wrong, was I?"

"Argh! Don't tell me we have to do this again," Eri mumbled.

Yuki smiled gently. "Genin are required to complete a mandatory fifteen missions before moving on to more difficult ones, even if it's wartime. Even if the other two finished theirs already." Scratch that. He was the spawn of Satan.

"You'll probably be called on by Madam Shijimi often. She's lonely with the daimyo being so busy, and she'd taken quite a liking to Shisui and Takashi when they used to do more D-Ranks." Cue the boys' exasperated groans.

"Look," Takashi said tiredly. "We did have to deal with her huge appetite today, but at least it wasn't that cat of h-"

An angry _MEOW_ resounded throughout the manor, followed by the crash of what was most likely the shattering of the countless antique vases that were placed in every hall.

Shisui laughed hollowly. "Yeah, okay, Takashi."

The servant from earlier flew into the kitchen again, looking even more rumpled. "I'm sure you know already, but," she sighed. "Sora's on the loose. Again."

At her pleading look, Yuki sighed, "Yes, we got it."

* * *

Judging from the short explanation that Yuki and the boys had given her during their dash out of the manor, Eri found that even more than her vain personality, the wife of the daimyo was even more notorious for her cat, Sora. While Shijimi loved her dearly, the cat took it upon itself to run away every chance it got, often wreaking havoc while doing so. Shisui and Takashi had been employed to catch Sora before numerous times, but the violent cat was so volatile that there were times that even chunin and jonin were sent out to look for it. Sora was the nightmare of all the ninja of Konoha.

Eri was alarmed, but silently amused at the situation they were in. Yuki had distributed walkie-talkies to his team, and they were currently situated in various trees that surrounded a clearing. They had managed to track down Sora, but the cat was on the lookout, hissing every time it heard so much as the rustle of a leaf. Which was fair, because a fair number of ninja didn't even have the capability to make that kind of sound.

"How far are you guys from that damned cat?" Yuki Sensei's worry was palpable even over the heavy static of the radio.

"Ten meters," Eri whispered.

"About the same for me," Takashi hissed.

"Five." That was Shisui. "And I have ninja wire on hand."  
"Is it okay for us to be using that on a _cat_?" Eri demanded.

"We can never be too safe when it comes to that thing."  
"Alright, Shisui, strike on the count of three. We'll be right behind you for backup. One, two… _three_."

And then came the most beautiful display of wirework that Eri had ever seen in her life. The ninja wire appeared out of nowhere, glinting faintly in the sunlight. She caught a glimpse of Shisui deftly moving his fingers to wind the string around Sora, then manipulating it to pull firmly around the target. The cat mewled angrily, but hung its hang, accepting its defeat.

"Heh," Shisui grinned crookedly. "That actually worked."  
"When did you learn how to do that?" Takashi asked, eyes widening.

"Kagami taught me the other day," Shisui said smugly.

Eri tuned out the sound of Takashi's envious groaning and Shisui's bickering to focus on Yuki. "This better count as two missions."  
"Probably won't," came the blithe answer. "The pay will probably rise a bit, though."  
That made Eri feel a little better, despite her feeling a bit of sympathy for Sora watching Madam Shijimi be reunited with her cat. Being snuggled to death was apparently a thing. She only felt a little sorry, though. The thing had nearly scratched her face off.

* * *

The next day, after having to pull some weeds as an excuse for a mission, the team ended up at a new ramen stand in town. _Ichiraku's_. The owner was kind, his little daughter was adorable, and the ramen was cheap and delicious. Eri nodded in satisfaction.

And then Yuki quite possibly just about ruined her life with a simple question. "So… any thoughts about what you want to specialize in as a ninja?"

Eri choked on her ramen soup. Chashu ramen. It was amazing. "What now?"  
Shisui snickered. Takashi and Eri rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"Well, you don't have to choose what you want to specialize in, not necessarily. It may be a bit too early for that. But you guys will be taking the Chunin Exam in a year, hopefully, and you'll probably be out on the field not too long after that. Oh, don't give me that look, Takashi, I have full faith that you guys will be promoted. You're my students, after all!"  
Takashi hid his face in embarrassment as Yuki laughed rambunctiously, who was shortly followed by Shisui's own laughter. Knowing Shisui, however, he was probably laughing _at_ Yuki, not with him.

Yuki calmed down, though not without a few last chuckles, which drew quite a few stares from young women passing by the small ramen stand. Speaking of which, everyone in Eri's team was unfairly good-looking, even if a few of them were a bit annoying at times.

"Kid," and his expression quickly turned sober. "The battlefield is dangerous. You guys are skilled, so you probably won't be sent to the front lines like the other genin, but there are still plenty of risks. You don't need to pick what you'll specialize in, but actively search out what you're interested in. Pick up some basic skills in a completely foreign type of jutsu, if you think it will be of any help to you. Shisui is advancing quickly in genjutsu, Takashi seems to favor taijutsu. You'll pick up quickly, you're a smart kid."  
Eri's face grew thoughtful. It was true. The village didn't want kids like her to be stuck at genin forever. It was her own goal to advance quickly in the ranks and become more powerful. But she was at a complete loss as for what to do in order to get started.

Yuki was cheerful once again when he turned back to his ramen. "Well, hurry up and finish eating! We started on missions, but we didn't really train together yet, didn't we? Let's go, let's go!"

Eri stared determinedly at her ramen. She didn't know what she would focus on just yet, but she would figure it out. She would train and become—

"Hey, why are you staring at your ramen like that? What did it ever do to you?" Shisui's face appeared in her peripheral vision.

His face was honest, eager to help. He had clearly noticed her discomfort. Eri smiled gratefully at him. She wouldn't think too hard about it right this instant. She had to finish her ramen first.


End file.
